Urban Outfitters And Anthropologie Could Be Expanding To Williamsburg

In a nod to the area’s growing cachet as a shopping destination,
trendy retailer Urban Outfitters and its sister company
Anthropologie are in advanced talks to secure spaces in
Williamsburg, Crain’s reported.

Anthropologie is working out the details of a 10,000-square-foot
space at a 150,000-square-foot retail complex located at 242
Bedford Avenue between North Third and North Fourth Streets. The
complex will be anchored by a Whole Foods, sources familiar with
the property told Crain’s. The complex is also in leasing talks
with Canadian retailer Joe Fresh, New York Sports Club, and
Citibank.

“We are in conversations with several retailers regarding the
remaining retail spaces,” Jared Epstein, vice president of Aurora
Capital Associates, told Crain’s. Aurora partnered with Midtown
Equities and Alex Adjmi to buy the property last year for $23
million.

The deal would see Anthropologie – which has carved an enviable
niche for itself as an upscale hipster retail destination – open
its first Brooklyn location, following the recent opening of the
company’s fifth Manhattan store on the Upper East Side, and
another store opening on the Bowery later this year, as The
Real Dealfirst reported.

Meanwhile, Urban Outfitters has landed a space at nearby 102
North Sixth Street, between Berry and Wythe Streets. The store
will be located next door to American
Apparel. Even J. Crew is a prospective tenant of a space
that will come online in the neighborhood, as The Real
Deal reported.

Rents in Williamsburg have been steadily climbing, and currently
range from $185 to $225 a square foot on Bedford Avenue to $70 to
$100 a foot for side streets such as North Sixth
Street. [Crain’s]